Galaţi

Galați
Galați
	The Danube in Galaţi
	; Coat of arms
	; Coat of arms
	Location of Galaţi
	Coordinates: 45°25′24″N 28°2′33″E / 45.42333°N 28.0425°ECoordinates: 45°25′24″N 28°2′33″E / 45.42333°N 28.0425°E
Country	Romania
County	Galaţi County
Status	County capital
	Government
- Mayor	Dumitru Nicolae (Social Democratic Party)
	Area
- Total	246.4 km2 (95.1 sq mi)
	Population (est. 2009)
- Total	290,733
- Density	1,213/km2 (3,141.7/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code	800xxx
Area code(s)	+40 x36
Car Plates	GL
Website	http://www.primaria.galati.ro/

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For other uses, see Galaţi (disambiguation).

Galați ([ɡaˈlatsʲ]) is a city and municipality in Romania, the capital of Galaţi County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, in the close vicinity of Brăila, Galaţi is the largest seaport on Danube.

According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 298,861 people living within the city of Galaţi,^[2] making it the seventh most populous city in Romania.

[edit] Name

The name of the city appears to have derived from Cuman galat, which was borrowed from the Arabic qal'at (fortress). Also other etymologies were suggested, such as the Serbian galac; however the galat root appears in several nearby toponyms, some of which show clearly a Cuman origin, for example Gălăţui Lake, which has the typical Cuman -ui suffix for "water". A derivation from Galatia (Gaul), suggesting a Celtic origin, is possible, but unlikely. The other closest toponym in the region is the Galicia with the small city of Halych which is locally associated with a jackdaw (Kawka, Halka). Other similar places are Galich, Russia and Galatia in Turkey.

Names in other languages:

Greek: Galàtsi, Γαλατσι
German: Galatz
Hungarian: Galac
Polish: Gałacz
Turkish: Kalas
Bulgarian: Галац

[edit] History

[edit] Tourist sights

Romanian Orthodox Church Cathedral of St. Nicholas.

Galaţi has a fine 20th century Romanian Orthodox cathedral - St. Nicholas (Sfântul Nicolae) and another particularly striking fortified church (that of St. Mary - Sf. Precista) on the banks of the Danube, which was built in 1647 by Vasile Lupu (legend has it that a tunnel was dug from the church and under the river).Other features of the city include a botanical garden, several museums, a television tower opened to the public and offering full view of the city, the newly-restored Galaţi Opera House, and a sculpture park lining a promenade of several kilometres along the banks of the Danube.

[edit] Remarkable architectural structures

City view at night from the TV tower

Galaţi TV Tower (Romanian: Turnul de televiziune Galaţi), a 150-metre tall telecommunication tower built of concrete, also used for FM broadcasting

[edit] Education

"Dunărea de Jos" University is founded in 1951 as a Naval and Mechanical Engineering Institute and given university status in 1974, by merging the Polytechnical Institute (the successor of the initial Institute) with the College of Education (founded in 1959).

“Danubius” University, established in 1992, is a non-profit institution of higher education, a juridical person of private law and public utility, part of the National Education System. "Danubius" University train specialists, researchers and leaders in the legal, economic and social domains.

The city is also a host to other educational and cultural institutions; among these, the "Vasile Alecsandri" and "Mihail Kogălniceanu" National Colleges rank as the first pre-university level educational institutions in Galaţi and the country.

[edit] Economy

The city has the largest iron and steel plant in Romania the Arcelor-Mittal Galaţi, state-owned until 2001. It is still commonly referred to under the old name "Sidex". Also, the country's largest shipyard on Danube is located here, benefiting from the good access Galaţi has to the Black Sea through the Danube and the short distance between its facilities and the Mittal Plant.

Galaţi is also a border checkpoint to Moldova.

[edit] 2010 Romanian floods

On July 5, 2010, the Danube in Galaţi recorded a flow rate of 676 cm (76 cm above the rate of flooding) and a flow of 16,055 m/s. At Şendreni, Siret had a rate of 728 cm (78 cm over the danger level).^[3]